ALLAHABAD, 4 May 2007 — Millions of voters cast their vote peacefully in the sixth round of polling in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh yesterday, sources said.
About 43 percent of 16.3 million cast their votes to pick 52 legislators from among 738 contestants in Varanasi, Allahabad, Ghazipur, Jaunpur, Sant Ravidas Nagar, Mirzapur, Chandauli, Sonbhadra and Kaushambhi districts, which are located in the sprawling state’s southeastern tip.
A total of 15,428 polling centers were set up with 17,800 electronic voting machines. The deployment of over 100,000 security personnel ensured smooth and incident-free polling even in the Maoist strongholds where the rebels had killed two officials in the 2002 election.
Surprisingly, the Maoist bastions of Chandauli and Sonebhadra recorded high polling — an indirect tribute to the security arrangements put in place by Election Commission.
Another 100,000 civil servants, teachers and Home Guards were also involved in the mammoth exercise. An Indian Army helicopter hovered in the sky, scanning for possible troublemakers.
“Everything has ended without any untoward incident,” Chief Election Officer A.K. Bishnoi said within 30 minutes after the 10-hour balloting ended at 5 p.m.
“We are very happy to have accomplished the longest election so far in the country. With this round, it is 26 days since polling began in Uttar Pradesh. The West Bengal elections (of 2003) took 21 days and were the longest until now.”
Polling also took place yesterday for the parliamentary seats of Robertsganj and Mirzapur that had fallen vacant.
The remaining 59 of Uttar Pradesh’s 403 assembly constituencies will go to the polls May 8. Votes polled in the month-long polling that began on April 7 will be counted May 11, leading to a new government.
Most experts and opinion polls say former Chief Minister Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is expected to finish on top of a widely expected hung house in Uttar Pradesh.
According to Uttar Pradesh Principal Home Secretary K. Chandramauli, 680 villages spread across the three districts of Chandauli, Sonbhadra and Mirzapur had been identified as “Maoist-infested.”
Chandauli, where Maoists are most active and who had urged voters to boycott the elections, recorded over 45 percent polling.
It was clear that the strict security umbrella had disturbed several of the candidates with a criminal past who were used to using fear to drive away voters from polling stations to rig the electronic voting machines.
Atiq Ahmed, an MP from the ruling Samajwadi Party who is feared as a mafia, told reporters in the eastern city of Allahabad: “This low polling is due to the fear the Election Commission has injected into people’s minds.”
Ahmed’s brother is a Samajwadi Party candidate in the area. According to a study by Election Watch, a social voluntary group headed by retired Director General of police I.C. Dwivedi, 138 candidates in this round faced criminal charges including murder, attempt to murder, extortion, kidnapping, rape and culpable homicide.
